Agency Primer

All egg donor and surrogacy agencies charge a variety of fees to provide you with an egg donor or surrogate, and to ensure that all legal and psychological needs and certain insurance needs are covered. Following is a general range of egg donor and surrogacy agency fees. Note that fees may vary quite a bit from one agency to the next.

Generally speaking, egg donor agency administrative fees tend to be in the $5,000–$9,000 range. This does not include the egg donor’s fee, medical fees, or egg donor expenses. Some agencies give you a bundled fee that includes legal fees, psychological fees, insurance fees, and agency administrative fees. Others charge a separate fee for each service or ask you to pay each fee directly to the service provider. These fees are usually nonnegotiable. Most egg donor and surrogacy agencies spend a lot of money to recruit donors and don’t have a high profit margin. The other fees for legal, psychological, and other services are fairly standard and, again, have no wiggle room.

A new trend with a few egg donor agencies is to break fees down to include matching and coordination fees. Some agencies are starting to contract out the cycle coordination fee to independent agencies who will handle the details of the cycle. These cycle coordinating or management agencies often handle and the donor’s fee, booking travel arrangements and distribution of expense reimbursement.

Egg donor fees are the greatest variable. An egg donor’s fee can range from $6,000 to $10,000, if the agency is abiding by American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) guidelines. The donor’s fee could be as high as $30,000 or in rare cases higher. Generally, you need not pay that much to get what you want in an egg donor.

With surrogacy, the fees are higher because you’re dealing with a longer, more complicated process. It is a little harder to compare administrative fees, but it is pretty safe to assume that you get what you pay for. If the surrogacy agency has an extremely low administrative fee, the agency may be just a matching service. That is, they have surrogates to match, but you will need to handle the details on your own. Full service surrogacy agencies charge an administrative fee of $12,000–$24,000. You want a program that will support you from match to birth and beyond. Some agencies are more hands-on when handling cases than others.

Surrogate fees can vary from $20,000 to $45,000 and up. Surrogates do so much for what breaks down to a few dollars a day. These wonderful women more than earn their compensation for the wear and tear on their bodies and the strain on their families. Expect most surrogates to receive compensation for expenses plus incentive for attending monthly support group meetings.

Basic Surrogacy Agency Cost The following fees do not include medical costs for services or medications required: • Administrative fee for the surrogacy program: $12,000–$24,000. • International fee: $2,000. • Surrogate fee: $35,000–$45,000. • Allowance for surrogate: $200 per month. • Surrogate support group meetings: $100 per month. • Legal fees: $2,000–$8,000. Depends on the extent of the attorney’s duties. If they manage the trust/escrow account, expect the fee to be on the higher end. • Psychological fees for surrogate evaluation and support: $1,000–$4,000 (depending on how involved the psychologist is). • Maternity clothing allowance for the surrogate: $600–$1,000. • Embryo transfer fees: $750 - $1000. • Fees for multiples: Expect to pay more for a twin pregnancy, and more still for triplets (always a high risk and not recommended) and additional multiples, due to additional bed rest required for the surrogate.

• Health and life insurance: All surrogates require health and life insurance. The cost of insurance can vary depending on the insurance plan. Getting health insurance to cover surrogacy can be difficult. The few health insurance policies that truly cover surrogacy tend to be expensive but worth the price. If a surrogate has her own insurance, she needs to ensure that the insurance company will include a surrogate pregnancy in her coverage. These companies cover surrogacy:

Welcome to Gail's Blog! Gail launched Donor Concierge in 2006 to provide intended parents with greater choice when searching for an egg donor or surrogate. Our Blog retains her voice, and our company retains her philosophy & ethics. We invite you to learn about finding an egg donor, finding a surrogate mother and the fascinating world of fertility.